Three
states of suspension, defining aspects of the client's life, constitute
and define the morphologies and spatial behavior of the house : first,
as a Filmmaker (suspensions of disbelief) ; secondly, as a Satellite Engineer
(non-gravitational suspensions) ; thirdly, as a Water Polo Player (physical
suspension in water). Metaphorically, the suspensions are the Primordial,
Ontological, and Cosmological conditions. Their spaces emerge around an
"Axis of Ascent" in an upward trajectory. Thus, gazing onto celestial
bodies originates at a symbolic primordial point of "emergence from water".
The domestic spaces are arcing along an "Axis of Descent", overlapping,
but not intersecting, with the axis of ascent. It is a descending arc
connecting the sleeping quarters with the living area pointing towards
the lower plateau of the land. A vessel membrane contains and carries
the house components. It is suspended on the hillside to provoke a sense
of instability on one side, while it is cradled by the continuous contours,
on the other, to evoke a sense of comfort and stability.

Marina
International HotelMarina del Rey, Los Angeles, USA, 1998

This
project is intended to function as a dramatic landmark for the Marina.
The vertical tower component consists of two slabs that hinge at the corner.
The edge condition created is a smooth knife-like shard that moves both
upward and downward. A smooth elliptical volume floats horizontally over
the inner court level, sliding and carving the negative void into the
tower base. The intersecting forces of both vortices (vertical and horizontal)
carve out the special public restaurant entry. On the narrow edge of the
split tower slabs, a folded plate climbs up wrapping the sides and unfurls
at the top creating a roof garden's shed. That event overlaps with
a suspended bar-in-the-sky twist that cantilevers out. The top bar's
twist marks the extensity of the force of the vertical vortex originating
at the bottom corner. The narrow folded plates act as accelerators, while
the curvilinear continuous membranes act as decelerators. The intended
affect is to create a slow hovering motion at the base layer, and a forceful
fast rushing upward motion.

Sharm
Safari GateSharm el Sheikh, Sinaï, Egypte, 1997

In
Egyptian history and mythology, the Sinai desert is the quintessential
condition of wilderness and nomadism. A facility that is designed for
the exploration of such a rich locale has to take its clues from its natural
and symbolic complexity. Mentally and physically, the Sinai explorers
cross from the realities and trappings of this century, onto an unknown
world of the primordial wilderness of biblical historical time. This became
the basis for a narrative of five pods that, metaphorically, are themselves
wanderers. In a search for the mystery of the place, they group and regroup,
evolve and morph into different entities. One of the pods metamorphosed
into an intelligent entity that became their guide. A membrane that hovered
above now shielded them. Extended tentacles tenuously attached down. In
an act of defiance, the "pod of flight" penetrates the shield and nestles
above the folded plates. It's so desired to witness flight, the very
act of its raison d'être. A place for nomadic explorers is
itself conceived by a nomadic myth. The architecture is imbued by the
very function that it is assumed to perform.

The
overall configuration of the landmass extends out in two armatures embracing
the seashore. Breaking into smaller fragments, and filtering into the
sea, it creates the illusion that the tranquil water had the power to
cause such an event. At the point where the base breaks apart, the horizontally
bound architectonic shards of the hotel and the public functions seem
to have spawned the more delicate and fragile structures of the villas.
Emerging from the lagoon, is a sweeping arc of the glass. An animated
"tidal clock" glides on its arc, with the rhythmic cycle of the tidal
condition. The interstitial spaces captured between the aquarium's
upward arcing movement and the flow of the shifting and folding hotel
volumes, epitomize a paradox that is inherent in the genius loci of the
Red Sea region. In Prototype III (a cluster of 6 villas), the architectonic
elements have a tenuous relationship to their base. The outer shell of
each unit is composed of jointed folded plates (shields) that allow them
to twist, bend, or rotate in an assemblages that differ according to their
shifting orientations. The grouping behaves in a repetitive motion that
appears "chronophotographic" in nature.